Fear's Ascension
by DrSwords
Summary: Ever wonder what it would be like to get thrown into the Star Wars universe and find out that you're intertwined with a prophesy of great darkness and peril? Well that's what happens to this group of teens. First Fic! Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I'm not Disney, which means no I do not own Star Wars. Or anything affiliated with it.**

**Okay, this is my first ever attempt at creating a fan fiction writing. Therefore, reviews about what is liked and what is disliked is highly appreciated. Thanks. **

**P.S. : Thank you to CherryXButterfly for being an awesome co-author!**

**Chapter 1: Of Terrible Drivers & Mysterious Archways**

"Don't tell me we're lost," Brian said.

Rainah, an 18 year old girl with brown, wavy hair looked at her friend in the rear view mirror.

"No, we're not lost," she replied.

Her friend merely looked back at her in response; not a flicker of emotion on his face. Typical. The dude had only one expression his face knew how to use: the face of emotional detachment. Any other expression just didn't look natural.

"Oh good, because I'd be rather annoyed if we were."

Rainah knew her friend better than anyone, and so was not fooled by his casually sarcastic tone. He was definitely irritated….. and probably amused too.

"Shayla, you're **sure **that your facts are accurate, yeah?" Brian turned to the girl across from him.

Shayla, an 18 year old of Spanish and English decent, glared back at him with her startlingly dark brown eyes.

"Yes. I confirmed it with the manager of the hotel we left. We should reach the Geoglyphs sites any minute now."

"And yet, we're still not there yet, even after all this time."

"Guys, don't start fighting **again!" **Rainah glared at them fro the front, before Shayla could retort.

Rainah was really starting to regret putting her two best friends in the back of the jeep, but she wanted to be able to sit next to her boyfriend. In hindsight however, maybe that hadn't been the smartest decision she had ever made. One of the two by themselves was fine, no problems, but the minute Brian and Shayla had met, they had been fighting and annoying each other nonstop. This would have been fine, manageable… were it not for the fact that they happened to be on a summer-long vacation traveling all around the globe. Dealing with their constant bickering for 2 whole months was starting to get a little wearing. Mason, Rainah's boyfriend, looked back at Brian and Shayla from the passenger seat.

"C'mon guys. We left the others behind for a reason. Can you at least try to get along for a couple of hours? Please?"

Brian and Shayla glared daggers at each other for what seemed like days…then turned away in a huffy silence.

Mason smiled, "Thank you."

"Shut up," both of them snapped.

Rainah sighed. This trip was the last trip they were going to have together before college. The four of them, along with a group of their friends, were supposed to having fun as they toured Europe, Asia, and currently, South America. But the rest of their friends had been slowing them down, bickering about where to go next, what to go see, where and what to eat, and just about anything else they could get into an argument over. Two of them in particular, Kyle and Nick, had just been arguing whether or not to have a guide with them when they went on a hike into the jungle that afternoon. Unable to stand the arguing any longer, Rainah, Mason, Shayla, and Brian rented a jeep and went off in search of geoglyphs that were supposedly nearby. Except that was two and a half hours ago.

"Huh," Mason looked up, "According to the map, we should have been there one and three quarters of an hour ago."

"Three quarters of an hour?" Rainah repeated, "Why not just say 45 minutes?"

Mason shrugged.

"It would help if he was reading the map the right way," Brian commented dryly.

Mason looked down at the map, then slowly turned the map the right way up.

"Do you mean to tell me," Shayla said slowly, "That we've been driving the wrong direction in a South American jungle for the last two and a half hours?"

Mason looked down again, his face somehow whiter than usual. Brian had said that Mason's face couldn't get any whiter … apparently he was wrong.

"Mason!" Rainah shrieked, "How did you not realize that you were reading the map upside down? Didn't you even check?!"

"Well clearly not, otherwise we wouldn't be in this particular predicament," Brian said.

Rainah looked over at him. That bastard was smirking. When this jeep stopped she was going to slap him soooooo hard.

"That's just great!" Shayla threw her hands up in the air, "We were **supposed** to be looking at some cool geoglyphs in a nice airplane, but nooooooo. Apparently all we get is a boring as hell, 2 and a half hour drive to the base of the Andes!"

"Look, guys, I'm sorry!" Mason said, "Let's just turn around and go back. Maybe we can still salvage the rest of the day."

"Don't worry dude," Brian said, "At least you have the comfort of knowing you can't screw up any worse than you already have. Besides, it's not all bad; just look at this beautiful jungle scenery!"

'Oh. My. God.' Rainah thought to herself, 'When I get out of this jeep I am going to beat the both of those two idiots into a coma!'

Mason glared at Brian and opened his mouth to retort, but before he could utter a single word, the front of the jeep suddenly plunged into a deep depression in the ground. Everyone heard a loud 'Clunk!', and even as the jeep climbed out of the hole, it started to shake violently. Not even 2 seconds later smoke began to gush out from under the hood.

Rainah swore very vehemently, pounding her fists on the steering wheel. The four friends piled out of the damaged vehicle. Mason and Brian went up to the front to see what happened. Mason made the mistake of leaning too close when he opened the hood, and got a face full of car smoke. He jumped back with a yell. The others started to laugh hysterically; Mason now looked utterly ridiculous. His hair and eyebrows were singed, and somehow the smoke made it look like he had poured an entire bottle of jet black make-up all over his face.

Mason scowled, and stomped to the back looking for a rag. Brian shook his head. Mason was having a really off day; normally he was a lot more focused and not nearly as much of an idiot as he was currently being. Brian gingerly lifted the jeep's hood, and peered through the black smoke.

"Well, this thing is now officially as useful as a laptop without a circuit board," he announced, "Power steering fluid's leaking, possibly the battery too, and somehow Rainah is so talented at wrecking stuff that the drive shaft is broken."

"Can you fix it?" Shayla asked.

"Are you kidding me? I know absolutely nothing about car mechanics or engineering, and even if I did, I don't have the tools or the parts."

"So, basically what you're saying is we're stranded out here?"

"Unless you feel like trekking a good 100 or so miles back through the jungle and somehow do so without getting lost? Yeah."

Rainah leaned against a tree, her arms folded.

"We're screwed. The others aren't going to come looking for us for at least three days, and by then all four of us will have been eaten by bugs or some wild carnivorous animal."

Shayla began to take their gear out of the ruined jeep.

"If we're going to be stuck out here, we'd better at least make sure we can survive. If we're careful, we'll be able to make it out of this perfectly fine."

The others began to help unload their things, making a makeshift camp near the wreck.

"I wish I could say I share your optimism," Rainah said.

"We'll be fine," Shayla repeated, "All we have to do is ensure we have the three basic necessities, and rely on each other. As long as we do that, everything will be okay."

Brian started to walk away through the underbrush, into the jungle.

"Um, where are you going?"

"I'm going to gauge our surroundings. See what the terrain is like, maybe find a good place to make camp for the night."

Brian soon disappeared into the foliage that surrounded them. Rainah and the others began to discuss their situation.

"We've got food, enough to comfortably last for maybe two days," Rainah said.

"Yeah, but what about water? We've got like, one water bottle each. What are we going to do when that runs out?" Shayla interjected.

"We'll have to find water somewhere and find a way to sterilize it."

"Alright, that's cool," Shayla nodded, "Assuming we find water of course. What about shelter though? We didn't bring tents or anything."

Rainah shrugged. This was beginning to look impossible. The three of them made themselves busy, grabbing things out of the jeep, sorting out their things, and setting up a camp. They chatted about random things, trying to keep their minds off their current situation. This went on for…. they didn't even know how long. Minutes? Hours? Time seemed to be moving so slowly; an hour seemed to take days. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the rustling of leaves signaled Brian's return.

Brian was somehow grinning ever so slightly when he walked back into their camp. The fact that somehow he could be happy at a time like this was just asking for Rainah to punch him.

"Well? Did you find anything interesting?" Mason asked him.

"Yeah, actually I did," Brian nodded.

"Well, what is it?" Shayla asked.

"I can't tell you; I wouldn't be able to describe it properly. You just have to see it for yourselves."

Shayla shook her head, "We are **not** going to trek into the jungle just to look at some random thing you found that may or may not look cool."

"C'mon. Trust me, it's worth it. I promise."

Mason walked over to Brian, "Well I'm in. The sun isn't going to set for a few more hours, and besides, what else are we going to do?"

Rainah looked over at Shayla. Her friend shrugged, and walked over to the join the guys. With an exasperated sight Rainah got up and followed suit.

For fifteen minutes they followed Brian deeper and deeper into the jungle.

After wandering into the jungle for so long, Mason finally asked Brian if he knew where he was going.

"Yes I'm sure," he replied calmly, "Don't worry, I promise this'll be worth it."

"Okay good, because if I didn't know better, I'd be wondering if you're just leading us into the jungle to murder us."

"Haha. Relax man, we're almost there."

Behind them, Rainah and Shayla were having a hushed conversation of their own.

"Well, at least Jared won't be able to track you here," Rainah said quietly.

Shayla suppressed a shudder. Jared: her obsessive, manipulatively controlling, abusive ex-boyfriend. Near the end of their relationship he had grown extremely possessive and paranoid; reading her text messages, and even hacking her email and Facebook accounts to see what she was doing and who she was talking to. If he saw something he didn't like….well he got rather unpleasant. Now, even months after Shayla had dumped him, he was obsessed with regaining control over her, and the whole group was convinced he had been following them since the start of their trip.

It hadn't always been like that. Before, he had been a caring, thoughtful person. He had been a great boyfriend to her, supportive, loving, protective, and had an immense sense of chivalry. It was only recently that his personality had turned so horrible. It was as if something had broken inside his mind; like a part of him just died. It pained Shayla greatly to know that the man she knew and loved had gone past the point of return. Knowing that he had become psychotic and dangerous, and that there was nothing she could do to help him. But Rainah was right, how could he possible track her all the way through this jungle?

"Guys, we're here," Brian called.

He beckoned them all through a tall patch of ferns. They went through, and were immediately stunned at the sight before their eyes.

"Well Shayla," he said, "You said you wanted to see the sights of South America, so here you go. I hope you find this satisfactory."

Shayla nodded mutely. Before them was a huge stone construct, roughly pyramid-shaped. The stone was weathered, and it had plant life growing all around it, like a ruin would normally look, but somehow the scene looked perfectly natural. As if the builders had designed for it to be one with the trees and plants that surrounded it. A wide cobblestone road led up to a great stairway, similar to the design of the Aztec temples in Mexico. Two large, rectangular pools made of marble flanked both sides of the road, in the middle of each there stood what was left of a statue-the remnants of the fountains that once fed the pools. The trees had grown over the whole area, making the light bend in odd ways as it shone through the canopy's leaves.

'It's beautiful,' Shayla thought.

Mason started walking towards the road.

"Where are you going?"

"Gee, I don't know. Big mysterious ruin just begging to be explored- how could I possibly resist?"

"Dude, that place could be dangerous. Is exploring it really the smartest idea?" Shayla asked.

"Well I sure hope not," Mason said, and with a smile he set off down the cobblestone road. Shayla had to admit, she was curious to see what was inside too. With a moments hesitation she followed Mason down the road.

"Hey Shayla, looks like we solved our water problem," Rainah nodded her head at the pools as they passed by. Shayla peered into one of them. The water was stagnant, and absolutely writhing with mosquito eggs and larvae. She nearly gagged, and shook her head. That was most certainly **not a solution.**

**The four of them cautiously made their way up the stairs. As they made it to the top, they turned back for a moment, just to enjoy the view. **

"**I thought bats were supposed to fly out of the creepy building's entrance when people walked up," Mason said.**

"**You're an idiot," Brian returned.**

**With that, they entered the building. They found themselves in a long, dark hallway. The stone corridor was narrow, and cobwebs/spider webs clung to every surface. Rainah was trying desperately to avoid touching them; she absolutely hated spiders. The hallway went on, and on, for what seemed like miles without any sign of change. Then, without warning, they were out. The four friends stared in shock.**

**They had walked into a massive chamber, easily big enough to fit two Olympic-sized pools side by side. The center of the room was dominated by a massive circular archway, ramps leading through it on either end. The only light came from narrow beams from small holes in the high, vaulted ceiling. The way the light shined, it gave the place an eerie impression of a ruined cathedral. Mason whistled. Everyone else jumped as the sound echoed around the room.**

"**Don't do that!" Brian hissed. **

**Shayla looked around. They were on an elevated balcony overlooking the room; curved stairways led downward to the chamber floor on either side. She walked forward, stopping at the railing on the balcony's edge. Wait. Railings?**

"**Strange," she noted, "I don't remember ancient civilizations having railings."**

**Brian walked over.**

"**They didn't," he said, "They would be made of wood, which means these should have rotted centuries ago. These couldn't have been made by any ancient civilization; they're made of metal. Look." **

**He motioned them closer.**

"**It's rusted," Rainah remarked, "How is that possible though?"**

"**I don't know," Brian shrugged.**

**Curiosity piqued, Brian made his way down the stairs to examine the room further. On closer inspection, the floor he had assumed was stone was actually also made of metal. The dirt and dust had created a hard stone-textured crust that covered it over the millennia of disuse.**

**Rainah went to examine the archway in the center of the room. It too was made of metal, though that didn't help determine what it was there for. Maybe the stuff in the back of the room had something to do with it. No light shone in that area, making it difficult to make out what exactly was over there. **

**She walked into the dark area, trying to discern what it was that was over there. It looked like a big pile of boxes from back here. She inched closer and closer, moving slowly and carefully; she didn't want to trip and set something off by accident. She found herself rather suddenly right in front of one of the boxes, close enough that she could just reach out and touch it. The lighting still sucked however, and though she could make out small shapes on the box, who knew what they were or what they did. They could be small scorpions or some other vile insect for all she knew. **

**Finally, she gathered the courage to test out what it was those things were. Really quickly, she rapped a large bare part of the box above the little shapes. Her knuckle bounced off with a loud 'tink!'. That sounded like glass. Was it? 'Tink!'. Yes, yes it was. She touched it, this time with her fingertips. **

**As if it had been waiting for her to do just that, the square beneath the glass lit up. The sudden flare of light momentarily blinded her. When she lowered her hand from her eyes, she saw several shapes lit up on the screen. There was a touch screen…..in the middle of a ruin in South America that had been abandoned thousands of years ago. Could this get any weirder? With the light from the screen, she saw a little switch with two symbols; one was a sun, the other was a moon. Judging how the switch was on the moon currently, she guessed this was the building's light switch. Of course se had to test this new theory, so she flipped the switch up to the sun symbol. The sudden increase in the light level, along with the surprised yells of the others, confirmed that yes, that was indeed the light switch.**

**The lights were mounted on the top of all our walls, hugging the ceiling.**

"**Wow," Shayla said, "That was rather unexpected."**

**Brian walked over to Rainah, examining the mysterious shapes they could finally see. **

"**This stuff is incredibly high-tech," he remarked, " This is like, current military grade technology."**

"**Maybe an expedition team was excavating here recently," Mason suggested.**

"**Maybe, but they wouldn't just leave such expensive equipment behind."**

"**Besides," Rainah spoke up, "This stuff has like two inches of dust on it. There's no way it could have gotten that dusty so quickly. This stuff must've been here for years."**

"**But that's not possible," Brian shook his head, "Just look at this stuff. There's almost no wires, everything's touch screen, this stuff here is plasma technology; this is stuff we're jut starting to develop. The only way this could have gotten here is- Mason don't touch tha-!" **

**Too late. Mason had pressed a very interesting/suspicious looking red button on one of the computer screens attached to the wall. Instantly, blue lights on the inside of the big circular archway lit up, and the hum of something big powering up filled the room.**

"**Dimensional gateway active. Standby; warp fields stabilizing," a computerized female voice spoke from the computer Mason had just touched.**

"**That can't possibly be good," Brian said.**

"**Scanning genetic biosignatures. Positive biosignatures detected. Warp gate is now online."**

"**Nope, definitely not good at all."**

"**Warp rift now opening. Prepare for immediate dimensional jump."**

"**Mason," Brian looked over at his friend, "I am going to kill you."**

**With a bright blue flash, all four of them disappeared. **

"**Dimensional jump successful; warp rift now closing. Dimensional gateway resuming standby."**

**The blue lights in the archway faded, and the room grew dark once more. A figure stirred in the shadows of the entrance hall, still unsure about what had just occurred. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I'm not Disney, which means no I do not own Star Wars. Or anything affiliated with it.**

**Okay, this is my first ever attempt at creating a fan fiction writing. Therefore, reviews about what is liked and what is disliked is highly appreciated. Thanks. **

**P.S. : Thank you to CherryXButterfly for being an awesome co-author!**

Chapter 2: Meeting The Council

Brian looked around wildly.

"Great, just great. Now where the hell are we?"

Shayla looked around as well.

"I have no idea," she said.

"This is just perfect. Absolutely fan-effing-tastic. Mason I am so going to kill- wait where is Mason?"

Rainah, Shayla, and Brian all looked around frantically, but Mason wasn't there. It was if he had simply vanished without a trace. Rainah cried out her boyfriend's name.

"No. No. He can't be gone. He **can't** be gone!" Rainah whimpered.

Shayla knelt down next to her friend.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," she tried to comfort her.

Brian closed his eyes, and started breathing slowly and deeply. He had always had exceptionally strong emotional control, and right now that was a very good thing. He knew he could no afford to start panicking, so he would not allow himself to.

He looked around again. They were in a very large, garden-like place filled with fountains. It wasn't much, but it was a start, and that was better than nothing.

"Okay, we need to find out where we are and how we got here. Once we know what happened, we'll find Mason and then find a way home."

"How are we going to do that?" Shayla looked up at him.

"Well, first let's focus on finding out where we are."

"I believe I can answer that," a voice said behind them.

Brian wheeled around; this was just too much on top of everything. The man's shape was human, but one look at his head clearly stated 'alien'. His head was a bit wider than a humans', and had a weird lumpy mass that looked like it might be an ear on either side of it. Also, his skin was an orangish color, and he had odd ridges on his forehead. Even more noticeable than that even, were the odd black goggles over his eyes, and the spiky black mask that covered his nose and mouth.

"Who are you?" Shayla asked.

"I am Jedi Master Plo Koon, and in answer to your question, you are in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The room of 1000 fountains to be precise."

Brian looked at him incredulously.

"Okay, two questions. One: What is a Jedi? Two, where is Coruscant exactly?"

"Coruscant is the capital of the Galactic Republic, and the Jedi are the Republic's guardians and peacekeepers."

"Okay, I'm going to act like I actually understood anything of what you just said. Now, how did we get here?"

"I am unable to answer your questions right now. Please come with me; the Jedi Council is expecting us. They will be the ones to answer any questions you may have."

Brian and the others followed the alien through a massive complex. Long elegant halls, massive chambers, grand stairways, and even walkways going overhead in some of the taller chambers, all made of some material they couldn't identify. Every now and then they passed by pairs of people, all wearing brown robes similar to those Plo Koon was wearing.

'Geez, how do these guys not get lost in this place?' Brian thought to himself.

He looks behind himself, checking on his friends. Shayla was looking around, clearly excited, and trying to comfort Rainah simultaneously. Rainah on the other hand, was bone-white, her eyes were red, and it was painfully obvious she was trying very hard not to cry. Brian decided to let Shayla handle helping her; he was terrible when it came to emotional stuff. He turned back to their alien guide.

"How are you guys expecting us? Did you know we were coming beforehand?" he asked him.

Plo Koon took a while to respond.

"Yes we did," he said slowly, "there was a dimensional anomaly that appeared about 5 minutes before you did."

"But that's not all there is to it, is it?" Shayla interjected.

"No, it isn't. However, it is not my place to tell you. The Council is the only one with the authority to answer that."

Brian nodded, and there was no further conversation for the remainder of the trip. A few minutes later, they arrived in a circular room, a round platform on the other side. From its look, Brian assumed it was some sort of elevator. A hooded Jedi was waiting in front of it.

"Ah, Master Koon, you have returned. Good. The Council is awaiting your arrival," the Jedi bowed and ushered them onto the elevator.

As he passed, Brian noticed this Jedi, was human, like him. He wanted to talk to him, ask him how he got here, but the elevator started climbing before he got the chance. The elevator tower had glass windows all the way up, allowing the occupants a great view to the outside. The three friends stared out. They were in the middle of a city; the biggest one they had ever seen. They must be a mile up at least, but even at this high elevation they still couldn't see the city's end.

"Wow," Shayla said, "this has got to be the biggest city I've ever seen."

"This city is the largest in the entire galaxy," Plo Koon replied, "It makes up the entirety of Coruscant."

"What do you mean?"

"This whole planet is really just one great big city."

"That's insane," Brian commented.

"There are many people who would agree with you on that," Plo Koon nodded at him.

Shayla looked out again. Were those flying cars speeding around out there? The minute she had free time she was **so **learning how to drive one of those! And what was that big domed building over there? She had some serious exploring to do!

All too soon, the lift reached it's destination, and the city was lost from view. The lift doors opened, and the four entered the Council Chamber beyond. Based on the grandeur of the Temple below, the three of them assumed the Council Chamber would be a great throne like place, but it was actually rather small and modest. It was merely a small circular room, with windows all around, and a dozen chairs arranged in a semi-circle facing the door. Then again, those chairs certainly did look comfy.

These eleven people occupying those chairs were some of the oddest looking being they had ever seen. One had a wider head than a human, and had a horn that curved downwards on either side of it. Another looked human; had brown skin, black hair, but he also had stubby little horns coming out of his forehead. Yet another looked like he could have been an older European gentleman, white mustache and beard, except there was a rather large lump on the top of his head, like he had an elongated skull or something.

Plo Koon moved forward, and bowed before this assembly of aliens.

"Master Windu, Master Yoda," Plo Koon addressed the two in the center, "These three are the ones who came through the dimensional anomaly."

The three friends looked at the pair Plo Koon had spoken to. These two must be the head of this Council. One was human, black to be precise, but he radiated an aura of great power. This was clearly not a man you would want to mess with. The other was, for lack of a better description, a diminutive little green dude. The only thing big about him were his ears. These two gazed back at the three teenagers before them.

"Thank you, Master Koon," the black human nodded again, and sat down in the unoccupied chair. Brian turned and looked at the twelve people around him.

"I'm still not sure I understand. Who exactly are you all? How are we here, and why are we so interesting to you?" he asked.

The Council members looked at each other.

"First, let's get to know each other better," the black man sad, "I am Jedi Master Windu. Who are you?"

Brian and the others looked at each other, some had eyebrows raised.

"My name is Brian. This is Shayla, and that's Rainah."

Windu nodded.

"Well then, Brian, Shayla, Rainah, welcome to the Jedi Temple. Now, can you tell us where you are from, an how came to be here?"

"We're from the planet Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy. We were on vacation, and we went exploring in a jungle ruin. There was a gateway, or warp gate, or something, that somehow activated and sent us here. There was another person with us, but he didn't end up here with the rest of us. We need to find him as fast as possible."

"I understand your concern, and we will help if we can."

"Why are you all so interested in us?" Rainah cut in, "You all have the same feelings of anxiousness and apprehension. You believe us to be the answer to something. What is it, and why?"

The Council members stared at her; it was their turn to have raised eyebrows.

"Powerful she is, to read our thoughts," the little green dude, Yoda, said.

"Nevertheless, she is correct," Windu said, "You see, your coming here may have been foretold."

"Like, as in a prophecy?" Shayla asked.

"Exactly."

"Okay, how exactly does this 'prophecy' pertain to us then?"

"This prophecy is thousands of years old. Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, I believe, knows it best."

The Jedi with the elongated skull leaned forward.

"A long time ago, the Jedi had a very powerful enemy, known as the Sith. Around 3500 years ago, there was a great war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, which ended with the Empire's destruction. During the conflict there were massive battles over and on the planet of Alderaan. In one of the final engagements for control of the planet, the Jedi sent an elite force of some of the most experienced and powerful Jedi Knights and Masters to combat the Sith occupying the surface.

Minutes before the battle's end, the team's most prominent Force wielder, a Jedi Seer, was struck down. As she lay dying the Force granted her a vision. This vision became the prophecy in question."

"But what does this prophecy say?" Brian pressed.

"It speaks of a great evil; a being of untold darkness. A being so terrible the Jedi and the Sith alike feared its name. A being so powerful, not even death twice over could truly silence its fury. The prophecy tells that this ancient evil has been sleeping for untold millennia, but as strife threatens the Republic once more, it shall reawaken at last.

However, just as this darkness awakens, three from another world will appear. These three will stand against the darkness, and lead a massive war against it. Each of these three is exceptionally talented and powerful in their own right, and in the end, the culmination of their efforts will alter the future of the Force itself. But, their power is both a blessing and a curse, for they do not have the lifelong training of the Jedi. Because of this, they will forever walk a razor's edge between the Light and the Dark Side. If they true to the Light, the galaxy will see a time of peace and joy such has not been seen in thousands of years. But should they be corrupted by the Dark Side, the Light will be consumed, and the galaxy will fall into utter darkness."

"And you believe that we are the three the prophecy speaks of?" Brian asked.

"You appeared from nowhere, and you yourself said you are not of this galaxy. It stands to reason that you three would be the ones the prophecy refers to," Master Mundi replied.

Rainah started to feel a little dizzy.

"Excuse me," she said, "I-I think I need a little fresh air."

"Do you want someone to guide you?" Master Windu asked her.

"No, I…. I would rather be alone right now, thank you."

Rainah turned and walked out of the room. Shayla and Brian stared after her, concerned. Why was she holding her hand to her head like that?

"Worry, you need not," Yoda said, "When we are finished, find her, we will. Sense her presence, we can."

They turned back to the Council.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Brian asked.

"Much potential, you have," Yoda nodded, "Powerful Jedi, you will become."

"First however, there is a test to prove whether or not you are the ones of prophecy," Mundi said.

Brian looked over at him questioningly.

"To ascertain if you truly are the ones, there is a task you must complete. Soon after the prophecy was made, a group of Jedi hid three rather unique weapons inside the Temple, specifically for the outsiders to wield. If you are the ones, you will be the only ones capable of finding them, because you were meant to find them."

Brian and Shayla looked at each other.

"Well, this is the most interesting vacation I've ever had, if nothing else," Shayla commented jokingly.

The corners of Brian's mouth twitched as he nodded in agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

**Way of the Jedi **

Rainah was having a little trouble. She knew the lightsaber was supposed to spin into a strike as she moved forward, but for some reason she kept hitting herself in the leg whenever she tried the move. The result was a beautiful collection of welts and bruises all up and down the outside of her legs. According to the Jedi training nearby, she was lucky she was using a training saber, otherwise she would have sliced off both her legs a long time ago. She tried again, but just like before she hit herself on the thigh, this time right on top of an already brilliantly purple bruise. With a frustrated exclamation she turned to either walk off angrily or chuck the damn lightsaber as far as she possibly could. Or perhaps both.

As she turned, a hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her. She looked to find Brian looking her full in the face. He didn't say anything, but then, no words were needed. His face was calm and expressionless as always, but his meaning couldn't have been clearer: "Calm down.".

She relaxed as he released her, and gave him an apologetic look. Brian gave her an understanding smile in return; he knew how hard things had been for her the last couple weeks. She was still coping with the loss of Mason; the blow had hit her extremely hard. They had spent the last 3 weeks scanning for another dimensional anomaly like theirs. The had already scanned every single planet in the Deep Core and the Inner Rim, but had only failure to show for their efforts. They refused to give up hope though; they wouldn't stop searching until they scanned every single planet in the entire galaxy.

Rainah noticed a large welt on Brian's hand; she wasn't the only one who had hit themselves. She took a deep breath and tried again, slowly this time. She still hit herself, but it was a glancing blow this time, and it didn't hurt. It was a little improvement at least. Their saber instructor came over to them.

"You're holding your wrists wrong," he told her, "Keep them at a more outward angle, so the blade points away from the body."

He demonstrated the move for them. He made it look effortless. Well, for him, it probably was effortless.

"Remember, Shii-Cho is all about basic, deliberate movements. Nothing fancy or overly complicated in it," he said.

Easy for him to say. He had mastered Form 1 decades ago.

"Just concentrate on what you're doing, and remember that Form 1 requires persistence."

Yeah, only thing is it's kinda hard to concentrate on what your instructor is telling you when he happens to be a green humanoid squid. If you lived here all your life that might not be such a big deal, but for them it was. Nevertheless they both did as he instructed. Their instructor smiled, and walked over to another group.

Brian and Rainah looked over to where Shayla was practicing. She was spinner her lightsaber, and moving around a lot more, so she needed a lot more room. It took their instructor, Master Kit Fisto, only an hour to teach her Form 1, and she didn't hit herself once the whole time. Not only that, she had mastered the form in a week and a half, making Master Fisto's already abnormally large eyes even larger. Now she was working on a more advanced form that had more complex maneuvers. The form was called Makashi, or something like that. Either way the form had a lot more footwork and seemed more precise compared to the styles the other Jedi were practicing.

After another hour of practicing, all three of them were too tired to continue. Kit Fisto walked over to the trio, who were all slumped against a wall.

"Tired?" he asked them.

The three of them looked up at him, and nodded mutely. Fisto inclined his head in empathy.

"You guys have trained enough for one day," he told them, "Why don't you go grab something to eat. Take the rest of the day off and relax."

They nodded their thanks and left the training grounds. Twenty minutes later they found themselves eating in a quiet area of the main hall. Considering how big the place was, finding a quiet corner was relatively easy.

"Oh man," Shayla complained, "For a weapon that's so light, lightsaber training is exhausting."

"Tell me about it," Rainah agreed.

"Actually, don't. It's bad enough having to live it," Brian said.

"Haha," Shayla laughed dryly.

"So what are you guys thinking of doing with the rest of your day?" Brian asked.

"Well, we've got a few hours before sundown, so I was thinking of going exploring," Shayla replied.

"Cool."

"What about you guys?"

"I don't know," Brian admitted, "maybe explore the upper levels, or go and see the sights of the city."

Rainah suddenly winced and put her hand to the side of her head.

"What's wrong?" her friends asked her.

"It's nothing," she replied.

Her friends gave her the 'Yeah right, liar.' look. Rainah sighed.

"I keep getting flashes of people's moods an thoughts. Don't worry about it. Sometimes it's just a little more intense is all."

Brian and Shayla continued to stare at her in concern.

"I'm fine," she said forcibly, "quit worrying about me."

"Okay, okay. If you say so," they said.

Soon after, Brian took his leave, and started down the Main Hall. Shayla got up and turned to her friend.

"Hey I'm going to go exploring too. You wanna come with?"

"Nah it's fine," Rainah shook her head.

Shayla's face fell slightly.

"What are you going to do then?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Rainah admitted, "I was thinking of maybe heading to the meditation balconies. Less chance of picking up emotions."

Shaya smiled and nodded her head.

"Okay, have fun!"

"You too. See you at dinner."

Shayla started wandering the Temple's halls, wondering where she as going to go. After a little while she found herself at the foot of a staircase well away from the Main Hall. She had never gone up that staircase before.

'Well, I said I was going to go exploring, so might as well start here,' she though to herself, and she started up the stairs.

Brian watched a Jedi Master train a group of younglings in an open room of the Veranda. He liked how open-aired the place was, and how tranquil it all seemed. There were Jedi training with lightsabers and the Force in most of the area's chambers, but still the feeling of the place was serene and peaceful. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly watching where he was walking, and so was jolted out of his reverie when he collided into a another Jedi.

"Ow!" the other Jedi stumbled backwards.

Brian's hand shot out and caught their arm, keeping them from falling.

"Sorry," Brian apologized.

He looked at who he had just run into. She was a young human, maybe 17 or 18. She looked up at him reproachfully. She was Asian, or at least this galaxy's equivalent of an Asian.

"Sorry," Brian said again, "I wasn't paying attention."

"It's fine, it's fine," she said, "I wasn't really paying much attention either."

"Are you okay?" Brian asked tentatively.

The girl smiled.

"Yes, thanks."

Brian smiled back sheepishly.

"Hey, you're one of the outsiders aren't you?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Is that really everybody's name for me and my friends? 'Cuz we have actual names you know."

"Well yea, I know. That's just what most of us call guys because we don't know your real names," the girl replied.

"Well that is completely unacceptable and needs to change right now," Brian stated flatly.

The girl looked slightly taken. Brian smiled again.

"My name's Brian," he said, "What's yours?"

"I'm Arianna," she laughed.

"It's nice to meet you Arianna," Brian said, "Tell me, what you doing this fine afternoon?"

"I was going to the Archives. Want to join me?"

"That would be lovely."

Brian and Arianna left the Veranda, chatting amiably the whole way.

Rainah was walking through the halls, not sure where she was going or why. Her original plan of going to the meditation balconies had been shot to pieces the minute she had gotten up. Something was pulling her … somewhere, but where that was was unclear. Therefore, she was surprised to find herself outside the Room of 1000 Fountains.

'Why am I here?' she asked herself, 'This is where we were when we came here. What's so special about this place?'

Rainah wandered inside, looking at all the alien plant life around her. There were so many colors, so much life, it was all really quite beautiful. She wandered up a stream whose source wasn't visible. Every now and then she saw someone tending to the plants, or meditating amongst them. She marveled at the sheer size of the gardens. It was like she was on a whole other world.

She walked deeper and deeper into the gardens, meeting fewer and fewer people as she went. At last, the tugging sensation ceased, as she stepped into a clearing. Well, not so much of a clearing as a small lake cornered by 4 trees, and a lot of tall plants concealing it from view. In the center of the lake stood a small stone circle, just big enough for a single person to sit on. Rainah looked around; she was completely alone. Slowly, she approached the water's edge. A few inches form toughing the water, something stirred in the pool's depths. Rainah jumped back, afraid it was some hostile sea monster or something. The thing surfaced; it was a narrow stone bridge, connecting the stone circle in the lake to the shore. Rainah moved closer cautiously, wary of any other surprises this place might have in store.

Suddenly, she was filled with an understanding of the place and its purpose. Knowing what to do, she crossed the bridge onto the stone circle. She sat down, in the meditative posture Master Yoda had taught her. As she did so, the bridge sank back beneath the water's surface once more. Rainah was not surprised, nor worried; she knew when her meditation was over the bridge would rise for her again.

Shayla had walked up the stairway, and then several more. To be perfectly honest, they al kind of looked the same. There were very few things keeping each hallway and staircase distinct from the others. She came to a more open area; this wasn't saying much, seeing as the there a billion open areas just like it throughout the Temple. Then again, this one had a big, important looking arch in it. It was the entrance to some big, brightly lit semi-complex with a ton of weird stuff inside. This was the Temple's Museum of History.

Curious, Shayla walked inside. This was odd, considering she hated history of any sort. She stared around, fascinated with the plaques and artifacts surrounding her. A commemorative statue over there, a model of an oddly shaped spaceship there, and screens with their descriptions next to them. She studied many of the exhibits closely; nothing on Earth had been as interesting as this.

The museum was arranged by time periods she realized as she entered a new area. She looked over at the sign: _The Great Galactic War._ The sign was dated around 3500 years ago. Shayla vaguely recalled Master Ki-Adi-Mundi speaking about this war when they had first met. Eager to know more, she looked at everything on display.

There was a model of a large spaceship to start with. It was more round at the edges, not so sharp like the others, but it had guns so it had to be a warship of some kind. According to the holoboard in front of it, it was a 1:5 scale model of Defender-class light corvette, used by Jedi during the time period.

Moving on, Shayla saw many other intriguing things. There was a picture of the Temple; there were soldiers and starfighters swarming around as the great building burned. This was a picture of the day the Sith invaded and sacked Coruscant, slaughtering the Jedi and nearly completely burned the Temple down in the attack. Shayla was amazed at how the Sith had nearly demolished this place, and yet the Jedi had rebuilt it, better than ever before. Their perseverance was quite admirable.

Nearby, there was a small alcove connected to the section about the Temple's destruction. Inside was a large dodecahedron prism floating above an anti-gravity pad. This was the Eye of Zallow, a monument to the Jedi who died defending the Temple during the Sacking of Coruscant, named after the Jedi Master who led the defense. The artifact had been brought here after the Jedi abandoned their Temple on the planet Tython. There was even a statue of the Jedi Master Ven Zallow himself next to it.

Shayla suddenly started wondering why the heck all of this was so interesting to her. It was all completely irrelevant to anything going on currently, and either way, she was the one who always fell asleep during history class. It's all about dead people. Big flippin' deal! What was so important about any of this stuff?

Something seemed to turn her head, as if answering her unspoken question. She was now looking at a glass case at the feet of yet another statue. She looked inside to see a very long lightsaber hilt, a blade emitter on either end. From what Master Kit Fisto had told her, this must be a double-bladed lightsaber, also known as a saberstaff. From the description this was the personal weapon of Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan, a hero during the Great Galactic War and later the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. Shayla imagined being able to wield such a weapon; having a double-sided lightsaber would be extremely advantageous in combat.

She looked up at the statue of Satele Shan, which was clashing blades with a statue of what was clearly a Sith. The evil expression on the guy's face made it pretty obvious.

Now this was interesting. The museum had many pairs of statues in combat with one another, but this one was different. With the other pairs, both statues were on the same plinth. With this pair the statues had their own separate plinths, so you could walk right in between them, right under their clashing lightsabers.

Of course that meant Shayla had to do just that. When she got there though, she noticed a hairline crack in the wall, starting just below where the lightsabers connected and stretched all the way to the floor. She traced the crack with her hand, wondering why the Jedi had never repaired it.

As she touched it the stone gave way; a large section of the wall jerked back. Shayla was surprised; she had hardly touched it. The section of the wall retreated until the whole thing was behind the wall. The crack widened, until it was big enough for her to squeeze through. She peered into the passage, into the gloom beyond. The place was fairly wide, wide enough for her to lay down without her head or feet touching either wall. What was that glow in the back? She couldn't see it properly from here.

Feeling slightly apprehensive, she climbed inside the hidden vault. As she walked down the passage she could feel the emptiness of it. No one had set foot in this place since its completion 3 and a half thousand years ago; there wasn't a single sign of life in the whole place, not so much as a solitary bug.

At last, she saw what was creating the glowing light. It was a massive crystal; the biggest one Shayla had ever seen. The thing was embedded into the floor, and yet it reached the domed ceiling 12 feet above. So awe-inspiring was the great gem that it took a minute for Shayla to realize that here was something inside it.

Guessing that the gem responded to touch like the door before it, she placed her hand on the it. The gem trembled under her palm. The gem's middle section split apart, and the pieces moved along the edges until they connected all the way around at the back. The middle of the gem moved forward, offering its contents. Shayla stared at the artifact before her.

Inside the crystal vault was a pair of metal gauntlets. Mounted on the gauntlet's forearm bracer was a circular case with a lightsaber blade emitter above and just behind the wrist. As Shayla picked them up, she noticed the whole gauntlet was made from a single piece of metal, leaving no weak points anywhere on it. Also, despite being made entirely of metal (excluding the interior padding), they were as light as a feather. Outside the crystal's colored light the gauntlets were painted a light gold color.

Shayla put the gauntlets on. They fit perfectly, ending right at the elbow, no fitting problems at all. Even the bracer's elbow guard extension fit, keeping her outer elbow completely protected. She squeezed her hand into a fist. A deep green lightsaber blade ignited, like an exceptionally deadly, extra long arm. Shayla smiled; it was like they were made just for her.

Rainah awoke from her meditation. She recollected on the peace she had felt, how far and easily she could reach out with her mind using the Force. She looked around herself. How long had she been meditating? A few hours by the look of it. She stood up.

The bridge rose as expected, but so did another. She looked at it in surprise; this new bridge led straight to one of the trees growing on the water's edge. Curious, Rainah crossed this new bridge, contemplating the tree it led to. No jolt of understanding came to her this time; she was just staring at a tree. In her mind, she yelled for something to happen. The tree quivered, as if in response.

The bark of the tree suddenly split with a loud 'Crack!'. A large section of the trunk, about a foot think, sank into the ground. Another section of the tree did the same, only sinking lower, making a step. This repeated another two times, until the steps connected to a stone cave beneath the tree. Rainah walked down the steps, very conscious of the fact that she was walking through a tree.

The tunnel was lit, but very narrow. There was just enough room for her to move, but not really much else. The tunnel twisted, going even deeper into the ground. Rainah was struck by the fact that this totally natural looking stone tunnel was actually inside a massive technology-filled building. The thought was rather hard to grasp. There was a final bend, and the tunnel stopped.

Rainah was in a decently sized cavern. Light streamed in from hole in the ceiling …. floor…. thing. It was both a ceiling and a floor. Across the cavern, basking in the light, sat a magnificent statue of a hooded, female Jedi. The statue's hands were outstretched, offering something on a stone platter. Rainah knew what was on it, but she wasn't sure. She approached the statue, looking at the lightsaber it offered to her.

She started to reach out, but hesitated. If she picked it up she was bound to the prophecy. Did she really want that responsibility? That burden? She was no warrior; she struggled to learn the basic lightsaber forms, and only knew the fundamentals of Force manipulation. How could she possibly expect to best a dark power too powerful for even the most venerable Jedi Masters to defeat? She was a novice outsider, but if she picked up that lightsaber she would be expected to attempt a task suitable for only the most accomplished Jedi.

She thought of Shayla and Brian. They were both willing to undertake this task without a second's hesitation. Was she really going to let them do this on their own? Was she really willing to abandon her friends? No. She picked the lightsaber up and ignited it. She was startled, and temporarily blinded, by the flash of light. The lightsaber's blade was pure white; it practically radiated Light Force energy. The sight strengthened her resolve slightly; she may not be a warrior, but she was at least going to try.

Dinner that night was rather more lively than usual. Everyone marveled at the artifacts Shayla and Rainah had found. The funny thing was, no one knew anything about either one of them. Everyone told them to ask Master Fisto, but he had just left for a mission.

About halfway through Brian walked in, accompanied by a girl neither Shayla or Rainah recognized.

"Hey Brian, where have you been?" Shayla asked him, "Who's this?"

"Hey guys. This is Arianna. Arianna, this is Rainah, and that's Shayla," Brian introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Arianna smiled.

Rainah and Shayla smiled and waved in reply.

"So what have you been doing today?" Rainah asked.

"We've been in the Archives. Arianna and her Master are going on a diplomatic mission soon, so I've been helping her research the subject."

"Uh-huh," Shayla nodded, the slightest hint of disbelief in her voice.

Brian glared at her.

"So what have you guys been doing?" he asked.

"Meditating."

"Exploring the Temple Museum."

Brian raised his eyebrows.

"Okay. A: What the heck? You hate meditating. B: What the heck? You hate history."

Shayla laughed.

"Haha. That's what I was thinking the whole time, until I found these."

She showed him the gauntlets. Brian's eyebrows raised higher.

"Now those are cool," he said. As he examined them he looked over at Rainah.

"So why were you meditating? You told me you can never concentrate properly."

Well, I found a place where I actually can," she smiled.

"Uh-huh. Okay. Anything else?"

She wordlessly showed him the lightsaber.

She ignited the weapon, showing him the pure white blade.

"Ah, I see," was all he said.

Later that night…..

Brian lay on his bed, unable to sleep. How had Rainah and Shayla known where to go and what to do? He hadn't any such feelings that day. He got out of bed; he was too restless to sleep.

Pacing in his room wasn't enough, he had to move. He left his room, and strode down the hall. He didn't exactly know where he was going to go, but that wasn't important. So long as the trip exhausted him so he could sleep, anywhere was fine. He soon found himself wandering down the Main Hall.

A certain stairway though, caught his attention. This particular stairway led down, unlike all the others. He had passed by it a couple time, but had never bothered to find out where it went. Was there even anything beneath the Jedi Temple? Well, he couldn't sleep, so he might as well find out.

Turns out, there wasn't all that much down there. A few corridors, some random chambers for miscellaneous activities, but not much else. Truthfully Brian found it to be slightly disappointing. He paused in an empty room, checking it out. There were small alcoves in the walls with benches, but that was it. Except the last one on the left. There was no bench, and the alcove was deeper than the others.

Brian was curious; why was this one different? He walked over to investigate. He reached out, and the wall melted at his touch. The wall was fake. Of course it was. Clearly nothing abnormal/clichéd about that. The tunnel curved, and stairs descended into darkness. Brian grimaced slightly. Creepy stairway of darkness. Hurray. Fun.

He slowly descended down the steps. Jeez, it was as cold and silent as a tomb down here. He walked down the last few stairs, into a small room. There was a big stone rectangle in the middle of it. Oh. Well that explained the feeling of being in a tomb.

He knew what he was looking for, and there it was. The lightsaber destined to be his was clutched in the stone hand on the coffin's lid. Not wanting to get any closer, and being slightly lazy, Brian reached out with the Force, calling the weapon to him. The weapon flew into his hand, and he flicked it on. The blade was jet black. Brian smiled; this was definitely meant for him. Over a thousand light years away, something else felt it too. It felt the reawakening of the trio of it's greatest foes, and it knew that its greatest threat had come.

5 Days Later…

Brian, Rainah, and Shayla were thoroughly excited. Plo Koon had set aside that day to teach them how to fly a Jedi starfighter. They talked amongst themselves on the lift, eager to start. Halfway through a sentence though, Rainah winced, and her hand shot to her temples.

"What's wrong?" Shayla asked, alarmed.

"Something dark," was all Rainah managed to say.

Brian opened his mouth to clarify, but there was no need. They all flinched as they felt a Jedi die in their minds. They all looked up towards the hangar, alarmed. Slightly panicked, the three of them flew out of the lift and sprinted towards the hangar doors. Just as they reached the entrance to the starfighter hangar bay, they felt the death of a second Jedi. They burst through the doors, ready to confront whatever it was that was attacking their home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I'm not Disney, which means no I do not own Star Wars. Or anything affiliated with it.**

**Okay, this is my first ever attempt at creating a fan fiction writing. Therefore, reviews about what is liked and what is disliked is highly appreciated. Thanks.**

**Chapter 4: Power of the Sith**

**The three friends stared across the room. A black hooded figure stood before them, two Jedi lay dead at his feet. They ignited their lightsabers, preparing to duel this new enemy. Their foe looked up, seeing the black, white, and deep green lightsabers arrayed against them. A black and red mask obscured their face. **

"**Who are you?" Shayla demanded bravely, "How dare you assault this place and its occupants."**

**The black robed figure said nothing. The three of them stepped forward, assuming combat positions. Their enemy mirrored them, bringing their own weapon forward.**

**Clutched in their hand was a long pole, as tall as they were. On its end was a thin, but long, curved blade. Blood dripped from its jagged outer edge. Their foe, who was clearly a Sith, was armed with a massive scythe. They casually activated the blade, igniting a red, curved blade beneath the first, making the blade three times larger than it already was. It wasn't just a regular scythe, it was a saberscythe. **

'**That's just not fair,' Brian thought to himself. **

"**You are a threat to the Master. You must die," was all the Sith said to them.**

**With that, he drew the scythe back and charged at them. They all managed to block his attacks, but the scythe's weight and the shape of the blade made blocking exceptionally difficult and dangerous. Not to mention the power and ferocity with which the Sith swung the great blade numbed their arms with every blow. With a particularly vicious sweeping slash, he forced all three of them back. **

**Shayla swiftly darted forward again, jabbing at him like a boxer would. The Sith backed up and spun the scythe, blocking both attacks. She immediately followed up with an arcing slash aimed at his head. Unable to bring the blade back up in time, the Sith simply blocked with the scythe's handle. Shayla's lightsaber bounced right off, not leaving so much as a mark. Her split-second pause of shock was all the time the Sith needed to gain an advantage. He twisted his weapon, hitting her in the stomach with the handle's end. A spin up and the handle clipped her under the chin. Shayla fell to the ground, stunned. The Sith took his scythe with both hands over his head, and swung down at his fallen opponent with all his might. **

**Rainah quickly jumped forward and blocked upwards, catching the scythe below the blade. She was lucky herself, an inch or two back and the scythe would have cleaved her in two regardless of her block. She was still in a bad position though. She was now in a saberlock with her opponent, and she just wasn't strong enough to hold back such a crushing blow. The sheer strength of the Sith was driving her into the floor, and before too long she was forced to drop to one knee. She knew she needed to break the saberlock quickly if she wanted to survive, but the Sith's pressure was keeping her from angling her blade, and using a hand to use the Force would be suicide. Just when she thought she couldn't keep it up any longer, her opponent was just gone; shot left in the blink of an eye. Her arms dropped with relief, and she looked right. Brian had slipped to the side and used a Force Push, sending the Sith flying across the room. **

**Rainah gave him a grateful smile, but she wasn't sure whether or not he saw. If he did he gave no indication of it. He reignited his lightsaber, and Force dashed towards his opponent. Black clashed against red as the pair fought upon the starfighter runway.**

'**Rainah,' Brian thought to his friend, 'Get Shayla up as fast as you can. I don't know long I can hold this guy back.'**

**Rainah mentally nodded at him, and started shaking her fallen friend.**

"**Shayla get up!" Rainah yelled, hauling her friend her to her feet.**

**Rainah asked if she was ok. Shayla nodded, and turned to the battle. As they watched, Brian slashed, spun around, and used a double-handed Force Push. His opponent managed to resist the attack, and immediately attacked back. Shayla was surprised the Sith could block Brian's SaberBlast combo. Come to think of it, she was surprised Brian was able to use the combo in a fight in the first place. She could see Brian beginning to tire though; he didn't have the physique or the stamina for prolonged saber combat.**

**Shayla and Rainah raced across the room to assist, but were not fast enough. Before they could reach them, the Sith knocked Brian's lightsaber away, and smashed the middle of the scythe's handle into his face. As he reeled back the Sith kicked him hard in the chest. Shayla and Rainah watched aghast as their friend went flying back, and skidded across the ground. The pair of them rushed to engage the Sith, but he swiped at them with the scythe and used the sweeping motion to create a wave of Force energy that knocked both of them off their feet. **

**With the other two out of the way, the Sith headed towards Brian; he had decided to finish him off first. Seeing this, Brian reached out with the Force and threw a large piece of maintenance equipment at him. The Sith deflected it without even breaking stride. **

'**That's how it is huh? Okay,' Brian thought to himself. **

**He picked up an entire starfighter, and threw it at the Sith with everything he had. **

'**Catch this, asshole,' he thought savagely. **

**The Sith jumped over the flying starfighter, slamming the scythe into it to help flip himself over. He hit the ground running as the starfighter crashed into the ground behind him. Brian cursed. This guy was one annoyingly tenacious prick. **

**He slammed a Force Push into the ground, causing a wave of Force energy to cut over the floor in a big arc. Fast as the attack was, the Sith was faster still. He jumped high over the attack, his scythe raised high for a crushing slash. Brian grinned; his opponent had done exactly what he was hoping he would. Still kneeling, he straightened up, and unleashed the charged Force Shove he had hidden in his other hand, catching the Sith in midair. **

**The Sith flew back and hit the ground hard. He flipped over while skidding backwards though, and used one had to help slow down the slide. Frustrated, Brian reached out with the Force to grab another piece of machinery, but couldn't. Even as he lifted it he could feel his grip slipping. Using so many Force moves in such a small period of time had drained him a lot more than he had anticipated.**

**Luckily for him, Rainah and Shayla had both rushed in, and were continuing the fight. They both fought as hard as they could, but couldn't find a way under their opponent's guard. The Sith's strength and their skill with the scythe was too great for them to overcome. Slowly, the tide of the battle was turning against them. Rainah tried to strike at her opponent's chest, but her attack was battered aside, and she was hit with a Force Push. **

**She quickly recovered, and was about to reenter the fight when she was struck with an idea. She had great stamina, and still had plenty of energy, but she wasn't that great of a fighter. Shayla, meanwhile, was a great fighter, but her stamina wasn't as high. What if she could project her power and give it to Shayla?**

**Despite the battle raging right in front of her, she tried to relax, and release the tension in her body. She fixed all her intention and willpower into giving Shayla as she could. The results were gratifying very quickly. Shayla suddenly felt refreshed, the strain on her limbs just dropped away. Filled with a new, strengthened resolve, she attacked her enemy with renewed vigor. **

**Her increased ferocity forced the Sith into a retreat, fending off blow after blow. She could feel his blocks weakening; her attacks were at last starting to break down his defenses. She increased her offensive even further, not giving a second to rest. Finally, the Sith could not keep up with her, and his defenses broke. Shayla ripped the scythe to the side with her right, and lashed out with her left arm blade, catching him right in the face. The Sith's mask was ripped off and sent flying as his head whipped back from the force of the blow. He stumbled back, and glared at her. Shayla's expression and arms fell in shock. **

"**Jared?" she whispered.**

"**I am Darth Shadus," he snarled at her. **

**He swung the scythe at her, nothing but hatred in his face. Shayla couldn't move, even with her mind screaming at her to. She was too close; the scythe was going to bisect her whether she blocked or not. **

**Brian got up. Did he care that the Sith was Shayla's psychotic ex-boyfriend? Absolutely not. His friend was about to get sliced in half unless he did something, and that was all that mattered. **

**Inches from hitting Shayla Brian hit Shadus with a powerful Force Blast, launching him back. Shadus flew backwards, slammed into the fallen starfighter sending it spinning, and then smashed into the hangar wall. Before he could even hit the ground, Brian seized the downed starfighter, swung it around in a big arc, and threw it using all the energy he had left. With the power and speed of a bullet train, the craft smashed into the wall, crushing Shadus with it. Brian paused to inspect his work; the impact of the starfighter had actually embedded the craft into the wall, and massive cracks extended in all directions around it. **

**Right at that moment, Masters Saesee Tiin, Plo Koon, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Kenobi's apprentice Anakin Skywalker burst into the hangar. Rainah glared at the four of them. They couldn't have possibly arrived hmmmmm, two minutes earlier?! Completely useless, all of them. She was about to tell them so when a loud grating sound caught everyone's attention. **

**The starfighter was being pried out of the wall from the inside. The craft crashed back to the floor, and Darth Shadus stumbled out after it. From his ginger movements it was apparent that a few ribs were broken, and maybe a leg too. He saw the four new Jedi, and knew he could no longer continue the fight. Glaring with rage he jabbed the scythe at them. **

"**This is not over," he proclaimed angrily, "I shall return, and when I do you will suffer for this!"**

**He turned and leapt out of the hangar, into empty space. They all rushed to the edge, but he was gone; disappeared into the sea of flying cars. **

"**We can't let him get away!" Skywalker exclaimed, "C'mon Master, we have to chase after him!…. Master?"**

**Kenobi was staring in horror at the destroyed starfighter. **

"**My starfighter….." he whimpered. **

**Skywalker, Tiin, and Plo Koon quickly dragged everybody out of the room. **

"**Okay, what the hell was that?" Brian burst out, "How the hell is Shayla's demented ex-boyfriend the frickin' Sith Reaper of Death, and speaking of which, where the heck did he get that big murder scythe?"**

"**I don't know," Plo Koon said, "but whatever happened he is an exceptionally powerful foe."**

"**So I gathered when he was actively trying to slice our heads off."**

"**Wait, I'm confused," Skywalker cut in, "Who was that, and how do you three know him?"**

"**That was Shayla's ex-boyfriend from where we come from. He must have followed us through the warp gate somehow."**

"**Huh, well what happened to him?"**

"**Clearly, he's fallen to the Dark Side, which is not a surprise whatsoever, but other than that I really have no idea."**

"**Well, if he followed you, he didn't end up here," Master Tiin said. **

"**Well then, where did he end up?" Skywalker asked.**

"**I've got a hunch, but I need to check it," Brian said. **

"**What's your theory?" Plo Koon inquired.**

"**I need to check, but I'm guessing somewhere with a strong connection to the Dark Side, like a Sith Temple or something. Plus, there can't be many weapons like that scythe, so that'll lower the amount of searching we'll have to do."**

**Behind them, Shayla and Rainah were having a silent conversation. **

'**Are you going to tell them?' Rainah looked at her friend questioningly. **

**Shayla looked over at the people walking ahead of her.**

'**Not yet,' she shook her head.**

'**You'll have to tell them eventually. You can't keep this a secret forever.'**

'**I know.'**

**The six of them headed to the Temple Map Room, to scan for a dimensional anomaly again. When they arrived, Master Fisto was there waiting for them. **

"**I just got back, and I heard someone had attacked the Temple," he explained, "What happened?"**

"**We were attacked by a powerful Sith, who turned out to be an ex-boyfriend of Shayla's." **

"**Okay, so what are we looking for?"**

"**A Sith who used to wield a gigantic saberscythe." **

**Fisto looked extremely surprised. **

"**Well, that's not something you hear every day," he said. **

"**So, do you know anything about it?"**

"**Hmmmmmm. If I remember correctly, there is one account of such a weapon. Long ago, thousands of years ago actually, back near the beginning of the First Sith Empire, there was a Sith Lord who used a weapon you speak of. She was known as the most bloodthirsty Sith to ever live; responsible for slaughtering entire cities for no reason other than enjoyment. Her real name was lost, but she was known as Darth Cruentus, and her scythe was a symbol of her overpowering desire to kill."**

"**Jeez. She sounds like such a lovely woman. So what happened to her?" Shayla asked.**

"**Her bloodlust became her undoing. The other Sith grew afraid that she would end up killing them all, and they turned on her. However, she somehow found a way to encase her soul in her scythe's power crystal, allowing her to evade death."**

"**So why didn't the Sith just destroy the scythe?"**

"**They discovered that Cruentus had encased the weapon in cortosis, making destroying it a very difficult prospect. Worse still, they also discovered that Cruentus could move her soul into whoever handled the weapon. Her soul influences the mind, turns those who wield it into insatiably bloodthirsty killers like her. None of the Sith were willing to be close to it for any length of time, so the weapon was sealed with its owner in her tomb."**

"**So where's her tomb?" Brian asked. **

"**She was buried deep in the Valley of the Dark Lords; the ancient burial grounds of the Sith on their homeworld, Korriban."**

"**Then we should scan for any anomalies there."**

**Fisto nodded, and turned to the map. **

"**Why do you think he ended up there?" Rainah asked. **

"**I'm not exactly sure why, but it would explain why he's Sith, and the scythe/soul thing would explain how he's so much more powerful than us in such a short period of time," Brian replied. **

"**There was some kind of activity there soon after you arrived, but it's difficult to make it out," Fisto pointed at the smallest of blips on the hologram of Korriban. **

"**So, can you figure out what happened?" Shayla asked.**

"**From here? No. The reading is too faint. The only way to truly discover what happened would be to go down there and investigate for yourselves." **

"**Then that's exactly what we'll do," Brian declared. **

**Rainah and Shayla looked at him incredulously.**

"**You can't possibly be serious," Rainah said, "You want us to go poking around in the crypts of the most powerful and evil Sith Lords to ever live? There's bound to be traps and stuff. We'll be corrupted by the Dark Side, or killed, or God knows what."**

"**It's the only way we'll know for certain, and we need to find out who's behind Jared's corruption into Darth Shadus. If we're supposed to defeat some great evil, my guess is that this evil is the source of it. We have to learn who this 'Master' is and this is the only lead we've got," Brian stated, "If it's a chance to get info and level the playing field we need to take it." **

**Skywalker cleared his throat.**

"**You might have to hold off on that for a little while," he said. **

"**What makes you say that?" Rainah asked.**

**Skywalker looked at the map pointedly. A new dot was flashing on Coruscant. **

"**We've got another dimensional anomaly forming in the Temple Main Hall," Fisto said.**

**They all looked at each other. **

"**Jeez, how many people are following us?" Shayla asked, exasperated. **

**Brian shrugged tiredly, and motioned them all towards the door. Someone, or something, was coming, and they were going to be there when they arrived. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any title affiliated with it.**

**Chapter 5: Forge of Souls**

All seven Jedi rushed down to the Main Hall. (Master Kenobi had yet to rejoin them.) When they arrived Masters Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti were waiting for them.

"What have we got?" Plo Koon asked.

"The dimensional anomaly appeared out of nowhere," Shaak Ti answered, pointing at the blue sphere behind then, "The thing has been widening for the last 5 minutes."

"Do we know what's coming through?" Fisto inquired.

"As of right now, no," Secura replied, "We were hoping you three might know."

She nodded at Rainah, Shayla, and Brian. The three of them looked at each other. How on earth were they supposed to know?

"Perhaps someone came looking for you guys?" Skywalker suggested.

Brian shrugged. It was possible, but not very likely that anyone would have been able to find them. The nine Jedi waited for several more minutes, watching the blue orb grow and elongate. For reasons no one could fathom, Brian anxiously kept checking the time. Shayla asked him why, but he didn't answer. Rainah, suspicious, tried to sense his thoughts telepathically, but somehow she couldn't sense him. She could feel the presence of everybody else, but for all the presence he had he might as well have been empty space.

She was about to ask him, but just before she could, the orb grew and touched the floor. There was a brilliant light blue flash of light, and seven people materialized in front of them. All seven of them looked around wildly. This gave Shayla, Rainah, and Brian a flashback of when they first arrived. They finally noticed the nine Jedi watching them, and the Jedi could actually see who these newcomers were. It was Kyle, Tom, Jessie, Nick, Katie, and Katie's boyfriend David- the seven friends Brian, Shayla, Rainah, and Mason had been with on their summer world tour.

"Dang. And here I was thinking we had actually ditched you guys," Brian greeted them sarcastically.

"Hahaha," David shot back, "Nice to see you too."

"How and why are you guys here?" Shayla asked.

"You guys left and never came back. Why do you think?" Katie went and hugged her friends.

"We combed the rainforest trying to find you, but we didn't find your wrecked jeep for at least a week and a half," Nick said, "After that we found that big ruin you guys went into, searched for you inside, and now here we are."

"Speaking of which, where is 'here' exactly?" Kyle asked.

"And who are these guys with you?" Tom pointed at the assembly of robed aliens behind his friends.

The nine Jedi looked at each other.

"Who wants to explain?" Rainah looked at her companions.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat, but unfortunately I've got somewhere to be," Brian said breezily, and he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Shayla called after him.

"Somewhere," he called back vaguely as he left.

Shayla watched him go incredulously. She shook her head, and turned back to the crowd of people behind her. Rainah was already busy explaining things to the newcomers, and introducing everyone. All seven of their friends looked like that had just been hit in the face.

"So, if I'm hearing this right, we just got flung through a different dimension to a whole new galaxy?" Nick asked.

"That's about it, yeah," Rainah nodded.

Nick threw his hands up in the air.

"Well that's just great. So now we're stuck here. Wonderful. I blame you guys; if you guys hadn't run off, we wouldn't have had to gone searching for you, and none of this would be happening."

"Calm down," Tom said, "It's not their fault. Besides, they already look beaten up."

"Yeah, what happened to you?" Katie inquired.

The Jedi looked at each other again.

"C'mon," Shayla and Rainah beckoned to their friends, "Let's go find somewhere to sit down; this is going to take a while."

1 hour later …

Rainah and Shayla looked anxiously at their friends; all seven were completely speechless.

"I don't believe this," David said slowly, "One of my oldest friends, turned into an evil maniac. Mason gone. And now you guys are mages that can make stuff fly around just like everyone else who lives here. It's almost too much to comprehend."

"And you guys are supposed to defeat some evil mage that even the best people here are afraid of?" Jessie spoke up.

Shayla nodded.

"Who, or whatever this evil person is, they're probably the one who corrupted Jared so badly. That's our theory anyway," Rainah added.

"How did you all get to become mages anyway?"

"Okay, first off, we're not 'mages', we're Jedi, and the 'evil mages' are Sith," Rainah said, "Secondly, we really don't know. It might be because of the way we got here, but really we have no idea. You guys might have these abilities too now; you haven't been tested yet."

A sudden hush met this proclamation.

"You mean, we could have powers like you do?"

"Maybe. We'll have to test you, but it's possible."

Everybody's eyes lit up. Rainah smiled at her friend's excited expressions.

"Come on, no sense in waiting. Let's test you and see if you're capable."

Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura observed the goings on from a balcony nearby. The two of them saw and heard everything the nine friends had been talking about. As the friends trooped out of the Main Hall, Aayla leaned against a pillar with her arms folded.

"I don't like it," she stated flatly.

Kit Fisto looked at his friend questioningly.

"Don't like what?" he asked her.

"There's too many of them," she said, "They're all too old to be trained, and none of them have the proper mental conditioning. Three was already dangerous enough, but now there's 3 times as many of them! Any one of them could give in to their emotions and fall to the Dark Side at any time! These ten 'newcomers' could very well bring about the destruction of the entire Jedi Order. How could the Council be so quick to trust them?"

"Well, the first three seem trustworthy enough, though you're right about them," Fisto nodded, "We'll just have to trust the Council's judgment. They have yet to lead us astray, and if we can't trust them, who can we trust?"

"I suppose you're right, but something is telling me this isn't going to end pleasantly."

Rainah and Shayla brought their friends to the Council, to be test like they were. When they reached the elevator, Brian was waiting for them.

"Well, well. Look who decided to show up," Shayla threw him a dirty look.

Brian didn't smile, or give a witty comeback like he normally did.

"The Council Is waiting for you," was all he said, and he motioned them into the lift. Rainah and Shayla were about to get on too, but he stopped them.

"The Council wants to see them first. We're to see them after they're finished," he explained.

"Why?" Rainah asked.

"I'm not sure; they didn't say. But that's what they said, so that's what we'll do."

Their friends gave them anxious looks.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Rainah assured them, "The Council seems intimidating at first, but they're actually pretty cool."

"See you when you get back," Shayla smiled at them.

The lift started up, and their friends were soon out of view. The minute they were gone, Brian slumped against a wall; he looked incredibly tired.

"Are you okay?" Shayla asked him.

"We were just in a rather deadly duel where all three of us nearly died at some point, seven more of our friends decide to just randomly appear, and everyone's acting like it's either perfectly fine or it's the end of the universe. Not to mention I drained myself of all my energy in the fight. What do you think?"

"Good point."

"So what are we going to do now?" Rainah asked, "We can't go tearing off to Korriban now, not with the rest of our friends here."

"Yes we can," Brian looked up at her, "The plan hasn't changed. The appearance of everybody else simply means postponing it a bit."

His friends nodded in agreement. For a long time they were silent; each absorbed in his or her own thoughts. Rainah could feel the tension and storms of emotions raging in her friend's minds. Shayla's was understandable; she was still reeling from the shock of the identity of the Sith Darth Shadus, amongst other things. Brian on the other hand seemed….. disoriented. He was still closed off as always, but he was distracted about something. What that was though, she couldn't tell. But there was something else there, bubbling deep under the surface.

Before she could figure out what that was though, the elevator came back down, and her friends piled out of it.

"How'd it go?" she asked them.

"It went alright," Katie smiled at them, "We're supposed to go find someone named Shaak Ti, for training or something."

"By the way, who is that?" Nick asked.

"You've met her already," Shayla told them, "She's the red and white alien with the horns. She's tough, but she's compassionate and fair."

"Okay, thanks! Have fun talking to the Council."

"We'll try. See you when we get back."

Brian, Rainah, and Shayla all climbed into the lift.

After the now familiar sight of the city with all its flying cars, they were soon in front of the Council Chamber doors. The faces that greeted them were a lot more guarded this time around though.

"So, how'd they do?" Rainah asked them.

The Council members looked at each other before Windu spoke.

"All of them are Force-sensitive, and they all have high potential. They could become exceptionally powerful Jedi in time."

"And that concerns you, doesn't it?"

"Concerns us, it does," Master Yoda nodded, " have the necessary training, they do not. Easy to turn to the Dark Side, they will be."

"There will be no need for worry," Brian assured them, "We will ensure they stay true to the Jedi Way, or we will drag them beck to it if need be."

"Do not be so quick to say so," Plo Koon, "You cannot force someone to stay true to the Jedi Way. If it is their wish to fall to the Dark Side, they will fall, whether you try to stop them or not."

The three of them nodded.

"We understand, but even so we will try. We will monitor our friends, and notify you if we feel that something is amiss," Brian promised.

The Council members nodded.

"Very good," Windu said, "However, there is one more issue that needs to be addressed"

"And that would be?"

"The Sith. There hasn't been a Sith for ages; they were all wiped out centuries ago. IF the Sith are returning we must be prepared; a single Sith could destroy the Jedi Order and bring down the entire Republic if they are not dealt with swiftly. This 'Darth Shadus' must be captured, or killed if need be, as soon as possible. The longer he is at large the more dangerous he will become to us."

"We will take care of him. The three of us can match him; we will keep this contained."

"Though, can we count on your assistance if we can't?" Rainah asked.

"The Sith, too dangerous to ignore, they are," Yoda said, "aid you in this endeavor, the Jedi will."

"Thank you," the three of them bowed.

"May the Force be with you," Windu dismissed them.

They bowed again, and left.

Kyle breathed slowly and deeply to slow his rapid heartbeat. No time for that though, as three training remotes rose around him. Quickly, he twisted around, blocking every shot the annoying little spheres shot at him. Their lasers were low powered so they weren't deadly, but he knew from experience that they stung like crazy and so was not keen to get hit. The stupid things simply revolved around him though, continuously firing at him. He spun around with them, blocking and dodging the shots with relative ease, though he found their persistence to be slightly annoying. He knew he just had to be patient; eventually one of them would make and mistake, and when they did he would be waiting.

Sure enough, one of the orbs flew too close, and paid for it by getting sliced in half. The other two soon met the same end. Before he could take a moment to rest however, he heard the hum of a lightsaber being ignited; a sound he had become quite familiar with by now. Quick as a snake, he whirled around, blocking a blow from above by a training droid. With another swing, he cut the droid down.

"Training module complete," a computerized voice said.

As the lights grew brighter Kyle relaxed, and stowed his lightsaber back in his robes.

"His reflexes are impressive," Kit Fisto remarked, having observed the whole training session from an observation room above the training chamber."

"Yes they are," Kenobi agreed, "His Soresu technique is very good for a novice. He has the potential to become a very skilled Jedi Ace even, if he chose to."

"Do you think they're ready?" Brian asked the two Jedi Masters, "do you think they can handle Korriban?"

"In the short time they have been here they have made considerable progress," Kenobi replied, "Personally I would prefer they had a bit more experience, but time is of the essence. I think this is as good as you can get with the amount of time you've had."

"Agreed," Fisto nodded.

"Good," Brian nodded back, "Thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated. I should begin making preparations for the mission then."

"Actually, you don't have to worry about that at all," Fisto said, "Master Koon and Master Tiin have already taken care of that for you."

"Really? Since when?"

"They've been working on a gift for you and your friends for the past four weeks. They'll present it to you when you're ready to leave."

The next morning the ten friends were woken early by Plo Koon, just as Kenobi had predicted. When asked where they were going, he simply said it was a surprise. The group exited the Temple, and was soon heading deeper into the city. One agonizingly long flying bus ride later they reached a (relatively) calm section, with several large buildings dominating the area. Plo Koon ushered them all off the bus, and guided them to one of the smaller buildings up front.

"Okay, will you tell us where we are now?" Rainah asked him.

"You will see soon enough," was all he responded with.

Halfway through the building they were met by Master Saesee Tiin.

"Oh good, you're here," Plo Koon greeted him, "Is everything ready?"

Master Tiin smiled and nodded, beckoning them to follow him. They obliged, and he soon led them through a door on the other side of the building.

The group found themselves in the largest piece of flat land they had seen in the city. Actually, it wasn't flat; it just looked flat at first glance. There were actually massive square pits in the ground, some of them a couple hundred feet across. Inside each one was a large metal frame.

"Welcome to one of Coruscant's largest surface shipyards," Plo Koon looked at the people following him.

There was a soft chorus of 'whoa' and 'wow's, and Kyle whistled. They passed several ships, all in various stages of completion. After about eight ships, they came to a completed ship. It wasn't a huge ship, but it wasn't small either. A silver coat of paint covered its streamlined body.

"Her name is the Soulforge," Master Tiin said, "We had her built once we learned you were planning to go to Korriban. Normally, younger Jedi are not permitted to have their own starships, but as it appears you will be travelling quite a bit, an exception was made."

A slightly stunned silence followed this little speech. Tiin smiled anyways; he understood the gratitude behind the silence.

"Shall we?" he led them up a ramp onto the ship.

Onboard the ship, they navigated several hallways and corridors. Along the way, Plo Koon and Tiin gave commentary on various rooms, such as the storage bay, training room, and the living quarters. After a while of this, the group walked up a curved ramp, and found themselves in a room with quite a few control panels and a wonderful view out of a glass window up front.

"This is the bridge," Plo Koon explained, "Just about all of the Soulforge's systems are controlled here. Navigation is probably the only thing you'll need to control from here, but there are sensors to monitor the ship's condition, a system for rerouting power, and the ship's defense systems in case of emergency.

"Defense systems?" Nick inquired.

"Yes. In the event of an attack, the Soulforge is equipped with one heavy laser cannon mounted on the prow, two medium cannons on both port and starboard sides as well as another on the stern, and eight automated light turrets. In the ways of defense, the ship is equipped with a shield capable of sustaining moderate damage before failing, and armor plating similar to those you'd find on larger warships, only a bit thinner. As a final defensive feature the ship has a medium-ranged ion cannon just above the prow's chase-gun, capable of disabling large warships for a few seconds; enough time for you to make a light speed jump to escape."

"Wow," Katie whistled, "This ship is like our own flying fortress."

"Yeah. It's an orbital defense platform mixed with a mini temple with engines," Brian remarked.

"Exactly as it's meant to be," Tiin nodded, "Across the ship's seven decks you will find training chambers, meditation rooms, a refectory, a hologram room equipped with a complete galactic map, and access to almost everything within the Jedi Archives. I hope that you will find this to be satisfactory?"

Brian looked over at Kyle, who was already familiarizing himself with the controls.

"Yes," he smiled, "I think this will be absolutely perfect."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Valley of the Dark Lords**

Nick and David sat at a table in a foyer behind the bridge, playing a game of chess against each other. They had been playing for about 40 minutes, just passing the time on their trip. Nick moved his last pawn forward, only one square away from being promoted. Seeing this, David quickly moved his remaining knight to take the piece, keeping his opponent from getting another queen. Nick smiled, and moved his rook a few spaces to the right.

"Aaaand checkmate," he grinned.

"What?" David looked at the board seeing what Nick had just done, "Argh! Dang it!"

"Nice poison pawn," Brain walked up, "David, you should have let him promote it. You're bishop could've taken it once he did. How did you not see that coming?"

David just shook his head in disgust, and amusement at his own failure.

"Anyways," Brian continued, "We'll be over Korriban in about 10 minutes. You guys should prep up."

The pair of them nodded, and cleared the board.

"I still can't believe the Jedi gave us a ship so big it's not meant for atmospheric flight." David remarked.

"Me neither," Katie walked over, "A decent sized ship, okay, but one that needs its own hangar and shuttle to get on and off from? Seems like a bit much to me."

"Normally I'd say so too," Brian nodded, "But the Jedi are concerned we'll be fighting a lot, so they wanted to make sure we would be capable of defending ourselves. Not only that, but considering we'll probably be abroad a lot, we'll need a ship that can house us all for extended periods of time."

"Well I think it's awesome," Tom added.

They all walked onto the bridge, where Kyle was piloting the ship.

"Everything okay?" Brian asked his friend at the helm.

Kyle nodded.

"We'll be there in two minutes," he said, "I'd suggest getting the shuttle ready to go."

David nodded, and left the room. Everybody else looked out the window, looking at the cool sight made by light-speed. A sound behind them announced the arrival of everybody else.

Kyle flipped a switch, and the light show ended; they were now going at a normal speed. Everybody stared at the planet below them. It was barren, sandy, and just downright desolate. It looked as if life had never existed there at all.

"I read the place was a dead world, but I didn't expect it to really look dead," Shayla commented.

"I've put the Soulforge in geosynchronous orbit above the Valley of the Dark Lords," Kyle reported.

Brian nodded.

"Alright everyone, let's go," he led the way down to the hangar.

As the shuttle flew down to the planet's surface, they could see the valley itself. It was in complete ruin; ruined buildings lay along the sides, an even bigger ruined building at the valley's end. Massive statues towered over the rest of the buildings in many places.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Tom wondered aloud, "This place is filled with tombs and temples, which one are we supposed to go into? We can't just search every single one."

"Maybe it's that big pyramid one in the very back?" Jessie suggested.

Brian shook his head.

"Can't be," he replied, "That's the ruins of the Sith Academy here. I doubt what we're looking for would be in there. Though, it would be interesting to see what we could learn there."

"No, what we're looking for is one of the most ancient places in there," Kyle called from up front, "It's actually underground, which is why it survived the orbital bombardments that destroyed this place."

"So which one are we looking for?"

"See that collapsed temple-like building on the ridge, overlooking the lowest level? That's it right there."

The shuttle landed near the ruined temple, about 20 yards away. The ramp lowered, and the nine Jedi descended to the planet's surface. Dust stirred up in big clouds as their feet touched the ground. They silently moved towards the fallen columns, stepping over fallen and crumbling masonry.

"How do we get in?" Rainah asked softly, "The whole ceiling's collapsed, the entrance is probably buried."

"I'm not so sure it is," Nick said back just as softly.

Something about the place made them all feel like they needed to talk very quietly, like they were in a library or someplace like that. As if talking too loud would cause something very bad to happen.

The group went around another fallen pillar, and started up a curved part of the fallen ceiling. They reached the top, and stared down.

"I guess there's your answer," Brian said.

In front of them a large staircase descended down, into the planet itself. Down in the darkness far below were two large stone doors; solid stone slabs, with intricate carvings decorating their faces. Interestingly, the whole temple had collapsed, but the stairway was perfectly clear and free of any rubble.

"I think someone's been here, recently," Shayla said.

The whole group nodded, and tentatively, they started down the stone steps. Brian pushed on the huge doors, and they slid open easily at his touch. They revealed a dark, gloomy hallway, several meters across. The remnants of a red carpet stretched down the length of the passageway. Brian motioned them all to follow him, and slowly, they started down the hallway. In alcoves on both sides of the hall, huge statues towered above them. Many were hooded, but others weren't, and all had stone lightsabers in their hands. The air around them seemed to weigh heavily on them, and the Jedi felt almost compressed by it.

"Let's hurry okay?" Katie whispered, "I don't like this place; it feels just …. wrong."

Everybody else nodded in agreement, but no one was willing to speak. If the atmosphere outside wasn't bad enough, this place felt even worse. As if a whisper would seal their terrible fate if spoken even just a little too loudly.

The hallway ended, and they came to a fork with three passages leading even further into the crypt. The one on the left and the one in the center were clear, but the one on the right was blocked by a fallen support pillar.

"Okay," Brian began to talk a little louder, "Rainah, take Katie, David, and Jessie down the left passage. Shayla, take the others and go down the center hall. I'll stay here and try to clear this away so we can get into this right hall."

"Wait, you're not staying here by yourself are you?" Shayla hissed at him.

"Don't worry; I'm fully capable of defending myself should something happen. And either way, I'm just going to clear this away, then come and get you."

"I don't like it. I should go with you."

"Alright, if you're that worried, Kyle, you stay here too then."

Kyle nodded, and walked over to him.

"Right then; let's try to cover as much ground as possible. I don't want to stay here for too long, so spread out and find that crypt. The sooner we find it the sooner we get to leave. Let's go."

The Jedi nodded, and went down the other two hallways. Rainah's hallway twisted and turned, but it didn't descend anywhere. There were many rooms in the halls, but they were all empty. If there had ever been anything in them, they had all been removed long ago. At a larger junction, they noticed a larger, more ornate hallway with lights that must have lit the hall long ago. She silently pointed at it, and they all went down the corridor. Through the dim lighting, they could see shapes upon shapes, lining the sides of what looked like a pathway. The four of them passed under the archway entrance, made by two large hooded Sith statues. The chamber they found themselves in was a massive one; at least 5 levels. Rainah and her friends stared in slight awe.

There indeed was a pathway, and it was lined by row upon row of life-like statues. Each one was unique, and there were plaques on the dais of each and every one of them. Rainah looked at one of the statues; a hooded Sith with a mask. The plaque beneath the statue read the name 'Darth Malgus'.

'These must be statues of all the great Sith Lords that ever lived.' Rainah realized.

The four Jedi didn't stay too long; some of the statues pervaded a malevolent aura. Around another corner, and there was movement on a path to the right! All four ignited their lightsabers reflexively.

"Hey, hey! Cool it, it's just us," a familiar voice said.

Shayla, Nick, and Tom walked towards them through the rows of statues. They all stowed their lightsabers away, and moved to greet them.

"Any luck?" Jessie asked them.

The three of them shook their heads.

"You guys?"

"Nope. It looks like this is the central chamber of the tomb, 'cause every hall we went down eventually led here."

The seven Jedi walked down the path through the statues, under a balcony filled with, well, more statues.

"Jeez, how many statues are there in this place?" Katie wondered.

Before they stepped any further, another figure walked quickly towards them from the left.

"Kyle, I thought you were with Brian," Shayla greeted him.

"I was. We cleared away the debris, and explored the halls, but they all led here," he explained.

"So where's Brian?"

"He's coming; he just stopped to clear away a section of the wall that had collapsed. He wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything."

Shayla nodded.

"Well, there must be a stairway nearby; how else would they get up to the upper levels?"

The group walked further, reaching the end of the large chamber. At the end of the path a spiral stairwell lay tucked in an alcove inside the wall. Shayla pointed excitedly at it, and they all rushed towards it. Shayla cautiously went onto the stairs, looking up and down. The stairs leading above them were in a big heap right in front of her. Half the stairwell had collapsed, the nearest intact section was maybe 5 steps down from the next floor.

"Guess we're not going that way," Jessie observed.

"That's okay though," Kyle said, "The Sith we're looking for is one of the oldest and strongest; she'll be down at the very bottom of this crypt."

"Rainah," Shayla tapped her friend on the shoulder, "Use your telepathy. Call Brian and tell him we think we've found the way down."

Rainah nodded, and put her hand to her temple, concentrating. She called Brian's name, but there was no answer. She tried again, still no response. She tried a third time. Katie and David began to feel nervous; was it just them, or was there a faint whispering on the air? It was as if the statues that surrounded them could hear their friend, and were trying to respond.

"He's not responding," Rainah told them all.

She tried again, louder this time.

'Huh? Oh, what is it?' Brian finally responded.

'Finally! Get over here; we think we've found the way to the tomb.' She sent him an image of where they are.

'On my way.'

Rainah was about to respond, but David hissed "Stop it!" She looked at him quizzically.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"There's just something wrong here. Can't you feel it?"

Rainah looked at her friend funny, but she stopped, and they waited. A minute later Brian joined them. The nine Jedi slowly descended the steps, deeper, and deeper into the tomb's depths. The stairwell went on and on, but the walls became more natural looking as they went. Eventually, they went from the smooth stone of the tomb's wall to the rough solid stone of the planet's crust. At last, the steps ended, and they found themselves in a medium sized subterranean cavern.

Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere on the cavern's floor and ceiling. They walked cautiously through the field of rocky spears, and followed a smooth stone road. At the end, the road split in 3 directions, each leading up a set of stone steps. Atop the steps were large, ornate doors sealing three large tombs. The tombs were made of some type of gray stone, and they were big enough that their slanted roofs nearly touched the cavern ceiling. The middle one, right in front of them, had a life-sized statue sitting on a large throne above the tomb's doors, glaring down at the Jedi that dared enter the tombs of the Sith. Clutched in her hand was a stone replica of the great scythe, the blade dipping just below the edge of the tomb's awning. There was only one thing wrong though; the massive stone doors to her tomb were already ajar.

Shayla peered into the gloomy space.

"The scythe's gone," she announced.

"Then it is as we feared," Brian replied, "Jared's mind has most certainly been corrupted and consumed by the spirit of the Sith whose statue lies above us. The dude we knew is gone; only Darth Shadus remains by this point. Darth Cruentus has made sure of that."

"So, we have to kill him?" David asked.

Shayla turned and faced her friend.

"We have to kill him," she nodded, "There's no other option."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Knowing One's Enemy**

The nine Jedi climbed up the stairwell, and left the tombs far below. They all turned to one another.

"Okay, now what do we do?" Rainah asked Brian.

"Hm? Oh. We should scour the crypt; try to find something of importance. Anything. Anything that might give us a clue as to what happened here, or where they went afterwards."

The Jedi nodded, and they all split up to search the area. Through the large room, they searched for anything unusual, but found only the eerie statues in all directions. In some places, there were halls leading to entire rooms full of uncompleted statues, for those that came after. Rainah passed the last completed statue, who was that? On the dais below the statue was the name 'Darth Plagueis'. According to the statue's description, the Sith Lord had died only 9 years ago.

'Huh, I thought Master Windu said the Sith had been wiped out thousands of years ago,' Rainah thought to herself.

She was also immediately struck by the fact that somehow, someone had made the statue of the Sith Lord 9 years ago, but the whole place looked like it hadn't seen living visitors in at least a century. She made a mental note to look into that when she returned to the temple. The room was full of incomplete statues, and there was nothing else of note in the room.

Shayla looked around in one of the back sections of the room. She was not comfortable here; the place felt wrong, and it seemed like the eyes of the statues all around her followed

her every move. This was stupid. What were they still doing here? They had found out what they came to find out, so they should be leaving, not skulking around looking for something that certainly wasn't there. She passed by a few more of the statues. Well, since she was here she might as well look around like she was supposed to. She noticed a statue with a rather large shield. A shield? Rather old fashioned wasn't it? Who was this guy anyways? According to the label at the statue's base, his name was Darth Desolous. Pretty powerful too apparently, considering it took half the Jedi Council to kill him. Still, just another stupid statue in a big room full of statues just like it.

Across the room, Katie looked through the statues in a far corner. These statues were clumped closer together for some reason. Katie looked at all their names. Wait. All of them, dozens, had all been killed within a 3 year period. At their death date, there was a symbol, the same symbol every time. She looked through the clump of statues; there was a gap there. She walked through the statues, until she came into the middle of them all.

There was a single statue in the center of the area. The other statues were placed further away from this one, as if trying to edge away slowly from it. This one was also bigger than the others. Every other statue in the massive crypt chamber was merely life-sized; this one was 1.5x that. Not to mention the plinth the statue was on was a good meter higher than any other in the room. She looked up at the stone monolith that towered above her.

It was a female Sith Lord; reptilian feet, clawed hands, even 3 horns on either side of her head. She had shoulder-length hair, an interesting outfit, and a slight sneering smirk on her face. A double-bladed saberstaff clutched in her left hand hung loosely at her side.

Suddenly the area grew cold; the atmosphere of the place had changed in an instant. Katie thought she heard faint whispers on the air, but they weren't intelligible, if they existed at all. She looked at the statues around her; they were different. They hadn't moved, but their demeanor had changed from their haughty, slight arrogance of before. Why did all the statues around her feel ….. afraid? It was as if the whole room was scared of a new presence, but there was no one there. She looked back at the statue.

'Wait a moment,' she thought, 'was the saberstaff in front of her before?'

"Guys, take a look at this," she looked back and called to her friends, "There's something odd about this area."

She looked back at the statue again …. and stumbled back in horror. The statue of the female Sith was looking straight at her, and it was snarling. The statue was moving. The statue was moving! It stepped off its pedestal, and was twirling its stone saberstaff with expert control and fluidity. Katie scrambled backwards with a yell.

The statue moved towards her, fast and aggressively. Katie rolled out of the way as the saberstaff swung right over her head. She backed up at fast as possible, trying to avoid the spinning stone blades. She ducked again, as the saberstaff smashed right through the statue of Darth Sion. As she moved to the left, someone grabbed her and pulled her out of the way of the juggernaut statue. David and Nick had arrived, being the nearest people to her. As they tried to find cover, they saw Nick was enticing the statue to follow him, away from the others.

The others quickly ran up, but what could they do against a huge statue? Brian and Shayla yelled at everyone else, and pointed towards the exit. They all obeyed without hesitation, and ducked through the room. Through the aisles, they could see Brian and Shayla keeping the stone monstrosity occupied.

Brian leaned back to avoid a spin towards him, then tried a Force Push on the thing. It made the statue take a step back to steady itself, but nothing more. It gave Shayla a chance to dart in and slash at the statue's leg, though. However, the lightsaber bounced off, and the blade flickered even.

"Great," Brian thought, "The stupid thing's got cortosis in it."

He rushed up, and hit the statue in the face with his own lightsaber, but the black blade bounced off without any effect either. Shayla swore.

"How do we beat this thing?" she asked her friend, as she threw a piece of a broken statue at the living stone monster.

"I don't think we can," Brian replied, "The best we can hope for is to hold it off long enough to get out."

Shayla nodded, and after a synchronized Force Push, they both turned and ran. The two of them rushed through the great hall of statues, and caught up with the others halfway through the room.

"Is it dead?" Katie asked.

Brian was just about to tell her no, it was still alive, but it crashing through the statues right in front of them answered that question for him. Nick swore, and they all activated their lightsabers. The next few minutes became a flurry of blurred green, blue, white, and black lights all around the giant stone monster, but every time they struck the thing their lightsabers all just bounced off and did nothing. The thing swung its saberstaff, and it finally caught Tom on the side, sending him flying. Jessie quickly broke off from the fight to help his friend back up.

The statue continued to wreak havoc amongst the Jedi, sending them into a chaotic mess with its attacks. It caught Kyle with a blow to the shoulder, and knocked him to the crypt floor. Shayla tried to help him up, but she was caught by the spinning blade too; only a timely block from both of her arm bracers saved her. Rainah used the opening to land a heavy blow to the statue's knee, but the blow shorted out her lightsaber entirely. A swift reverse spin from the staff sent her flying through the air.

Upside down, Rainah got a split-second glimpse of the balcony level on the other side of the crypt's hall. She only had half a second, but she saw a hooded, robed figure in the darkness, watching the battle below.

Katie jumped high into the air, and used a Force Push at the statue's head. The attack made it back up, but it swatted at her with the saberstaff anyways. Katie would have been struck full on had David not used a Force Push of his own to shove her out of range. As she fell, she saw in the darkness above, 2 floating orbs that looked like Force energy. The sight was quickly lost from view as she hit the ground. The battle was still in full swing; Jedi darting around the big monolith, unable to even scratch it, while it continuously sought to crush them.

Brian was starting get a teeny bit frustrated. This was just not fair; this thing was beating the crap out of them all and they couldn't do anything back! What was the point of being able to use the Force if it doesn't help you? He used Force Push, Force Grip, everything he could think of, and nothing had any effect. Fine; they were going to have to try something else then.

"Guys, retreating is the only way we're going to be able to get out of this. Quit fighting, and run as fast as possible."

Everybody nodded, and started to break off from the fight. Brian jumped back, grabbed 5 statues simultaneously, and pulled them into the statue with a crunch. But not even that worked; the statue cut through the broken stone and charged him again. The thing tried to grab him, in an attempt to crush him with its stone body. Brian curled up into a ball, and released a huge wave of Force energy in all directions.

Shayla was slightly shocked; from Master Fisto's teachings, that was a Force Repulse. Since when did he know how to do that? She didn't have much time to think about it though, as they ran back up the long entry hall. The Jedi were slightly afraid the statues that towered on either side of them were going to come to life and attack them as well, but to their relief they remained silent. They opened the 2 huge stone doors, and rushed up the stairs back out into the dusty sunlight. As they all ran through Rainah turned around and used the Force to slam the doors shut in the face of their stony pursuer.

The 9 Jedi staggered back onboard their shuttle, and collapsed, exhausted.

"Kyle," Shayla said, "Get us the hell out of here."

Kyle nodded tiredly, and soon their shuttle was speeding up through the clouds of Korriban's atmosphere. They all stared down again at the barren planet; it still felt just as evil from orbit. Kyle docked the shuttle in the Soulforge's hangar. They all walked to the rest area just behind the bridge, and fell onto the couches/chairs in the room.

"Well that was completely pointless," Nick burst out, "What was the point in going there? We go to this creepy old place, nearly get killed, and what did we get out of it?"

"Well," Rainah said slowly, "We know the source of Shadus's power for one."

"Here's something I think is odd," Katie spoke up, "the statue that attacked us, it was bigger than any of the others. The Sith it depicted was pretty powerful from what it looked like. Do you think that might be significant?"

"It's worth looking in to," Shayla shrugged, "Kyle, plot a course back to Coruscant, then meet us in the archives.

Kyle nodded and headed up the ramp to the bridge. Shayla and Rainah led the others down to the archives, on deck 5. The room was fairly simple; a small round table with 4 chairs in one corner, a reading chair in another and a single computer with a large holoscreen on the far wall. There was also a window that provided a nice view of the outside.

The Jedi made a beeline for the computer.

"Okay Katie, put in what you remember of the statue then," Rainah told her.

Katie put in what she remembered: the many dead Sith, the fact that it was around 2000 years ago, and Sith female's description. The archives computer came up with only one result: Darth Phobos – The Hidden Fear. The Jedi stared at the image; it was her alright.

The description was stunning. When she was alive, she had mercilessly murdered her Sith rivals in her bid for power. The other Sith had grown so afraid of her, they had turned on her, and shot her ship down in orbit over Korriban. They had thought her dead, but she survived. While in hiding she created a fanatical cult of acolytes that worshipped her as a god, and she sent these acolytes to dispatch of high priority targets, both Sith and Jedi alike. She became such a serious threat that in the end the Sith and Jedi created an alliance, and joined together to destroy her and her cult of fanatics. After a long battle with countless casualties, Phobos and her cult had been destroyed, but the details of her final battle were nearly nonexistent. The reason for this: barely anyone who participated in the battle actually survived it. Phobos's cult was shattered, but it survived, and didn't disband entirely for centuries afterwards. As for Phobos herself, the Theelin Sith was reported dead, but rumors of her 2nd survival persisted for over a thousand years.

"Wow," Shayla whistled, "That is one badass Sith Lord."

"Yeah," everyone agreed.

"Hey, I thought I saw someone using the Force to manipulate the statue during the fight," Rainah spoke up.

"Yeah, I thought I saw something too," Katie nodded.

"If what you saw is true, they must have been a pretty powerful Force-wielder to pull off something like that," Jessie observed.

"What do you think?" David asked, "I think it's something worth checking out. Maybe checking old sites that that Sith used could turn up something."

"It's worth a shot," Rainah agreed, "But we shouldn't just rush off all over the galaxy right away. We need to at least inform the Council first."

The other 8 Jedi nodded in agreement, and the Soulforge sped them towards their home.


End file.
